The present invention relates generally to a caster for furniture or the like, and more particularly, to a caster adapted for use on a carpeted floor.
The use of carpeting as a floor covering has become a popular alternative to tiled or hardwood floors. This is especially true in office settings, for carpeting has excellent sound absorbing characteristics, is aesthetically pleasing, durable, and its use can reduce construction costs since inexpensive materials can be used for the supporting floor.
Caster design in the past has failed to provide a low profile compact caster capable of operating efficiently on a carpet. Some prior art casters are equipped with large cylindrical rollers which provide a sufficiently large surface area to prevent the caster from sinking into the fibers of the carpet. These large rollers, however, increase the size of the caster and hinder its pivoting on the carpeting making the caster unresponsive to any change in the direction of movement of the article of furniture that is supported by the caster. Another type of caster such as is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,096,239 has a single roller having an axis of rotation that is angled relative to the floor. Consequently, the caster tends to track in a circular path resulting in extra effort being exerted by the user in moving the furniture along a straight path to a desired location.
It is an object, therefore, of the present invention to provide a low profile compact caster having a relatively large supporting surface adapted for use on carpeting and being movable in a directed path without deviation.